Early morning bicyclists and hikers on the east end of the Colorado National Monument have something new to speed their descents down the snaky twists from Cold Shivers or Serpents Trail – sticky buns.

These have nothing to do with sweaty Spandex.

The sticky buns are the coveted treat at a new coffee house located in an old gift shop along Monument Road. The sticky buns at Laughing Dog Coffee House are deceptively light and airy given the fact that they are made with only whole-wheat flour. Olive oil fills in for shortening or butter in the dough that is flecked with flax, sesame and sunflower seeds. The topping is the traditional gooey, oozy mixture of butter, honey and walnuts.

The sticky buns are the creation of Laughing Dog co-owner Suzanne Diemer who swears she’s never taken a baking class or a cooking course of any kind. She occasionally zips around the Laughing Dog kitchen in a Colorado Culinary Institute apron, but only because someone left it there.

Diemer came up with her raved-about sticky buns by making the dough from the same recipe she had used for years to create her whole-wheat bread at home. She took her formula for the topping from The Pioneer Woman show on the Food Network, but tweaked it with less boiling time to make it stickier.Read more…

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Chef John Broening is pictured in this 2005 file photo. (Special to The Denver Post)

John Broening, a Denver chef and restaurateur, is taking over as executive chef at Le Grand – Bistro/Oyster Bar in downtown Denver. He started the new gig today. Robert Thompson, the Denver-based restaurateur who owns Le Grande, has also hired Broening to serve as Colorado culinary director for Seasoned Development, his restaurant company. Among other things, Thompson plans to bring Argyll back to Denver, probably in early 2014. The gastropub had a short run in Cherry Creek before closing in 2011.

“John has a lot of fans in town, but none bigger than me,” said Thompson on the phone Monday night. “I’m happy to have him back on board.”

The two have a history together. Broening worked at Thompson’s Brasserie Rouge near Coors Field, from its opening in 2002 until the place shuttered, just 13 months later.

“John went on to have a great career, has owned his own restaurants, won other awards,” said Thompson. Broening owned Olivea, in Uptown, which shuttered last year. And he currently owns Spuntino in Highland. Thompson said Broening will continue to own Spuntino.

Broening also writes a column for The Denver Post’s Food section.

Broening is overhauling Le Grand’s menus, said Thompson. The new dinner menu gets unveiled on Thursday, and in the next few weeks the transformed lunch and brunch menus will launch.

“French food has been a passion for me since I was very young. I grew up in France, worked there early in my career,” said Broening in a news release. “What French people eat is much lighter, fresher, more vegetal and a lot less fussy than the popular stereotype. At Le Grand, I look forward to cooking the everyday food that French people eat.”

The new menus will change with the seasons, with the Mediterranean flavors of Provence – tomatoes, lamb, olives, artichokes, goat cheese, olive oil – dominating during the summer. Brittany and Normandy’s apples, crepes, and mussels will get showcased during fall, and in winter, expect more from regions like Burgundy, Perigord and Alsace Lorraine: coq au vin, duck confit, cassoulet, and choucroute.

Quick: You’ve been invited to a July 4 cookout and you ask what to bring, and they say, “Oh, just yourself.” Don’t you just hate that? You could bring liquor, you could bring cake, you could bring ice cream, but you kind of know they’re going to have plenty of all of those things already.

It’s pickles to the rescue. One-day refrigerator Asian pickles. If you’re reading this now, hit the grocery store (better yet, the Asian market – less crowded on a July 3 evening) to make this July 4 recipe and pick up a bottle of mirin (sweet rice wine) and a bottle of rice vinegar.

Frank and Dina Berta of Frank’s Kitchen are closing their Denver restaurant.

Frank and Dina Berta have closed Frank’s Kitchen, their homey restaurant in Denver’s Whittier neighborhood. The news isn’t all bad, however: Joe “Jammin’ Joe” Van Dyke, a Virginia musician with 20 years of restaurant experience, plans to open a barbecue joint in the spot in July.

“We’re both in our 50s and a little tired,” Dina said in a Thursday morning interview with The Denver Post. “It just didn’t feel like something we wanted to keep on doing.”

In an online post in her “Frank’s Kitchen Diary” blog, Dina wrote that the pursuit of an alcohol license, a costly move which would take six months, played a large role in the decision. But she was quick to note that “physical and emotional factors” were a major consideration, too. (You can read the full text of the goodbye note at frankskitchendiary.wordpress.com

“We liked parts of the restaurant life but didn’t like others,” Dina said. “We loved the customers and meeting people, but not the 14-hour days. We’re glad we did it but also glad we’re not doing it anymore.”Read more…

Updated: The Butter Queen appeared on the “Today” show this morning in a teary, somewhat rambling interview with host Matt Lauer. She told Lauer she is not a racist, that she believes in treating people “equal.”

When Lauer questioned her about the business aspect of the controversy (she reportedly earned $17 million in 2012), Deen steered the conversation back to emotional, personal territory. She teared up when talking about her grandson telling the truth.

After the interview aired, Today.com reported that “Caesars Entertainment Corporation announced that it had reached an agreement not to continue a business relationship with Deen’s company, Paula Deen Enterprises. Caesars operates Paula Deen-themed restaurants at four of its properties, which it said it intends to rebrand.”

Freshly baked baguettes cooled after coming out of the oven at Panera Bread in Lakewood. (Karl Gehring, The Denver Post)

The five Panera Bread cafés in Colorado Springs are collecting non-perishable food donations for Black Forest fire victims. The cafes will donate the dropped-off food and $1 for every 10 pounds of food donated to Care and Share Food Bank (up to $10,000).